Building Our Forever
by CaitlinWalker
Summary: Picks off where 4x15 left off with Arthur and Joan in the hospital. **One-shot**


**Author's Note: If you've seen 4x15 (i.e. quite possibly the most intense, scary and riveting hour of my life that consisted of some tears and a lot of screaming) this is a scene that picks up after the Arthur & Joan hospital scene. I absolutely love these two and writing about these two, so it should be of no surprise that I wrote this one-shot.**

**Again, any and all reviews are extremely appreciated and each of them absolutely mean the world to me.**

**Thanks guys!**

"_In that moment, all I could think of…was you…the thought of not seeing you."_

"_I'm here now…we're here now"_

Arthur was drifting in and out of consciousness. Drowsy and tired, he could barely manage more than a couple of minutes awake at any one time. But, most importantly, he had fought and he had won. And he was still there to hold.

"_In that moment, all I could think of…was you…the thought of not seeing you."_

Joan replayed those words over and over again in her mind.Though as hard as she tried not to, she could picture him slowly bleeding out as he frantically called her to warn her. Frantically called her to save her life. And he did. If it wasn't for him, she'd be dead, their child would never be born and he, despite surviving the attempt on his life, probably would not be able to survive the heartbreak.

They may have their troubles but they always had each other. A lot of things had changed for them recently but the way they felt about each other hadn't. Waking up to her husband each and every morning always gave her butterflies and every time he smiled at her, she still felt like a giddy teenager, head over six-inch heels in love with that man.

Actually no. Her feelings about him _had _changed. She now loved him more than ever.

She loved that brave, strong and wonderful man who had overcome every cruel twist that life had thrown at him recently, just to be able to be with her and their child.

That brave, strong and wonderful man who was now awake again.

"Hey, handsome," she smiled, reaching for his hand. "Back with us, again?"

"I guess I am…beautiful." He looked tired as hell, but he still managed one of his trademark cheeky grins, his eyes twinkling at her. "Joan, Joan, Joan…how are you, darling? You…you _two _alright?"

She nodded as she rubbed circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. That was one of the many reasons why she loved Arthur Campbell. Even after being stabbed and coming close to passing over, he still cared more about her and his unborn child than he did. "_We're…_" She loved emphasising the fact that she had a child growing inside of her, just as much as he did. "_We're _alright…actually, great now you've woken. One day, this one," she rubbed her stomach with her free hand. "Is gonna hear all about his tough daddy and is gonna be just as proud as I am of him."

"M-Maybe just leave out all the spy stuff though…"

"Of course," she nodded. "I'm with you on that. We're gonna keep our boy as far away from that twisted world as we can."

"_Our boy…_" He said with a wide, proud smile, and tears in his eyes. "I-I…I guess it hasn't sunk in yet."

"Yep," she leaned forward to wipe a tear off his cheek. "And I'm blaming you for that."

"Me?" His confusion was no doubt increased tenfold by the drugs circling his system.

"Yep, you, Arthur Campbell."

He didn't seem to know whether to laugh or be offended. "How?"

"Because," she squeezed his hand. "Every time it feels like it's finally gonna sink in, you go getting yourself jailed or stabbed."

"Oh…that. I really can't argue with that."

"No, you can't. Our son is gonna be coming any minute soon, and we still haven't even begun thinking about names or got started on the nursery or, even, buy him some clothes. Poor lad will end up spending his first couple of weeks naked at this rate."

"Hey…nothing wrong with being naked. Especially…you know, together."

Rolling her eyes, she was unable to supress the laugh that escaped from her. That cheeky, boyish sense of humour, that she had missed these past few rough months, had finally returned. Even if it was aided by the drugs he was being pumped with, it was still nice to see him laugh again after all that had happened. "We'll be getting our boy some clothes, Arthur. Even if I have to drag you out to the shops with that IV still in your arm."

"I'm down with that…I wasn't talking about him when I-."

She nudged him in his arm, forgetting for the briefest of seconds he had been stabbed yesterday, and he winced. "Sorry, babe," She hated seeing him hurting and instinctively, that mothering instinct she could feel herself slowly developing, kicked in again. "You OK? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Do want me to get you someone?"

"No, no, no." He took hold of her arm as she stood to her feet, already ready to go and get someone. "Please, Joan. I want no-one but you."

His words were enough to reassure her and she sat back down in the armchair she had spent the whole night in.

"The pain's OK…it makes me know that I'm alive…and that I still have you."

Now tears stung her eyes. "Arthur…when I got your message…heard the pain and worry in your voice and then…" She took a deep breath to compose herself as she felt her own voice shaking. "After all that had happened, I thought, to us, I just thought…_I'm gonna lose him. My son is never gonna meet his father…Arthur is never gonna meet his son."_

Now he squeezed her hand. "But I am…and we're going to finally have the family we've always wanted. Hell, the family I've always wanted with you."

Tears fell as she blinked.

"Yes…from the day that I met you, I knew a few things. That you were the one that I was waiting for my whole life. And that I wanted to not only make you my wife but also the girl I wanted a family with. And if means getting stabbed to have all that, well. It's gonna be worth it."

She smiled, wiping away tears. "I love you, Arthur."

"I love you too, Joan." His eyes penetrated hers. "And I should have told you that as soon as you came back from New York. Because…I know now that I might have never had that chance-."

She placed a finger on his lips. "Don't. Please don't finish that sentence." She already had to consider that possibility of losing him recently and it was a dark place she didn't want to revisit. Ever. "I don't want to even think about the past. I wanna live in the present, with you and I wanna think about our future."

"I want that too…" He was getting sleepy again.

"Well, we can. But you need to get some sleep, Mister. We've got forever for our future. A little sleep won't harm it."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "The same goes for you too. You look exhausted."

She felt exhausted. But she hadn't got in a wink of sleep since the stabbing. She had sat, in that very same armchair, watching the colour creep back into his cheeks as she held his hand.

"I know you're Joan Campbell and you normally give the orders but I'm not going anywhere. Sleep sweetie. You and the baby need it."

"I will." And she kept her promise, letting herself slowly drift off, not before she watched him do exactly the same.

"I'll never, ever get tired of watching you sleep." Arthur's voice greeted her as she awoke from her slumber, his hand gently stroking her hair. "And I'll always be grateful for what I have."

Joan looked up to him, her eyes wide and as beautiful as they were the day the first met. The day Arthur had played over and over in his head and he faced death. "Morn—wait what-?"

"A little after seven…good evening is more appropriate." The poor thing must have really been exhausted. "You were out like a light."

"I-I didn't know I was that tired."

"Maybe he was," he grinned. "Hey…what about sliding your pregnant self up here?" He patted the bed.

"No…I couldn't."

"Honey, I'm insisting on it." He knew she'd refuse. Just knew it. Because even when it came to caring about him, sometimes she'd still be a little stubborn. "No arguments."

Though she still didn't look too thrilled by the notion, no doubt thinking that it may cause him even more pain and discomfort, she still followed his order.

"That's better," he said as he wrapped an arm around her, and leaned into her.

"It is," she still was hesitant about the move. "This isn't-?"

"Nope. It's not hurting me, I promise." He smiled at her before reaching over to the bedside table, a move that did hurt him, although he did his best to hide it. "Now, whilst you were being Little Miss Sleepy Head, I had an idea."

"Why am I little worried, right now?"

"Ha, you shouldn't be. " He balanced the hardcover book on her bump. "I had one of the nurses pick this up from the maternity wards. Like you said, I want to think about forever too. So why not today?"

He loved seeing her face light up as she picked up the book of baby names. "Why not?" She grinned with a smile that warmed his heart.

Arthur leaned in to kiss her. He wanted her as much as he wanted forever. Hell, he wanted forever _with_ her.


End file.
